80 MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. [CHAP. VIII. 



when lie could, of going to bed with the same orb. One summer's 

 evening (Sunday, June 30th, 1861), he was going upstairs to bed 

 about a quarter before nine o'clock, when on the staircase he 

 suddenly espied a comet in the heavens. This was too interesting 

 and too novel a spectacle, so, to the surprise of all of us, down he 

 came again into the drawing-room, sent for his telescope, and the 

 result was the following letter, which appeared in the ' Times ' the 

 next morning. 



SIR, It may interest your readers to hear that an enormous comet has 

 this moment appeared in the north, having been suddenly discovered by the 

 passage of a large cloud. 



Its nucleus is of great dimensions, much larger and brighter than a 

 star of the first dimensions ; and its tail, which extends many degrees in the 

 heavens, is of the same form, and will probably equal in extent the comet 

 which visited this country in 1858. At the moment I write it is not so 

 bright as the comet of 1858 in its brightest periods, but it is only second 

 to that in relation to any comet which has appeared within my memory, 

 and therefore everyone should witness this object when it again becomes 

 visible this evening. 



At twenty minutes past 11 o'clock it is twelve degrees east of north, by 

 a magnetic needle, and about ten degrees above the horizon ; but these 

 measurements are only rough estimates, as I have not accurate instruments 

 at my command. 



I remain, Sir, 

 7, FINSBURY CIRCUS, Tour obedient servant, 



Sunday Evening, half-past 11 o'clock. ALFRED SMEE. 



Alfred Smee was the first to discover this comet in England. 

 The President of the Astronomical Society an old friend of my 

 father's was greatly surprised on his going to town on the 

 Monday morning to read in the ' Times ' the discovery of a new 

 comet, he having, like other astronomers, missed seeing the 

 phenomenon. 



Alfred Smee was the first to introduce the French system of 

 pisciculture into England. He introduced it into this country in 

 the beginning of 1860, and on the 24th of April of the same spring 

 he wrote the following letter to the ' Times :' 



SIR, The great interest which is now taken in pisciculture induces 

 me to call more particular attention to the French system devised by 

 Professor Coste of the College of France in Paris, and practised on a large 

 scale at Huninguen. I learnt the system at Paris in 1859, and brought 

 it at once to England, but even now it is not as sufficiently known or 

 appreciated as it deserves. The plan consists in placing the ova on a grid- 

 iron of glass, where they remain with a jet of water passing over them till 

 the young fish are hatched. Coste's system is absolutely perfect, and leaves 

 nothing to be desired, provided excess of light is excluded. Any number 



